2008 Eelpout Festival
What is usually a great empty expanse of white, frozen lake just off the shores from Walker on Leech Lake, turns into Mardi Gras on ice for one weekend in February, with thousands of cars, trailers and fishhouses parked next to one another as a defacto city on the ice takes shape for Eelpout Festival.
Although the summer is generally thought of as the time when the population of the Leech Lake area is the most tourist -filled, Eelpout Festival is one of the biggest tourist events in the area, usually drawing in about 15,000 fishers and revelers for the weekend.
This year's 29th annual Eelpout Festival took place Feb 15-17. Although temperatures on Friday got down to a bitter 10 below, by Saturday noon the weather had rebounded into the 20's and peaked in the late afternoon at a balmy 37 degrees. It was perfect 'pout weather, as they say.
The official purpose of this event is to see who can catch the biggest eelpout. Especially if you're not from these parts, you might be wondering, "What's an eelpout?"
An eelpout is a fish from the family of perciform ray-finned fish which, in comparison to the other famous inhabitant of Leech Lake, the sleek and tasty walleye, has been judged as a lesser-than in the fish world. As the name suggests, eelpout are somewhat eel-like in appearance, with elongated bodies and the dorsal and anal fins continuous with the caudal fin. They are also notorious for doing the eel-like thing of wrapping themselves around your arm when you're trying to pull one off your line.
What's an eelpout look like? The eelpout pictured here was one that was entered in the eelpout race event. This particular eelpout seemed ill-motivated to move quickly, and meandered languidly down it's "racetrack." Kinda cute, don' t you think?
Trappers Landing Lodge was the sponsor of the big top tent located in Walker City Park (on solid ground), where bands played and a varied of events were held over the weekend: such as, the Bikini Contest, the Fashion Show, and the Karaoke Contest.
Other events taking place at the festival were: Best Encampment contest; the Eelpout Peelout 5 mile run; a Polar Plunge; Rugby Tournament; 'On-Ice" Auto Race (taking place at Garfield Lake); Eelpout Derby Pout Races; Ice Fishing Olympics; and the International Ice-Drilling Championships with hand auger divisions for men, women and youth.
Eelpout, kabobs and fries were served at the Trappers Landing Lodge tent. Everyone knows that Leech Lake walleye are good eatin'. However, locals and eelpout insiders know that when an eelpout is breaded, fried and served with a side of tartar sauce, most folks can't tell the difference. Especially if they're the typical Eelpouter, and already had a few drinks.
Adding an element of glamour and sex appeal to the festival were the Coors Light girls, who pranced about the events in matching outfits, posed for pictures, participated in the polar plunge, and entertained a tent-full of appreciative men in a Bikini contest.
Meanwhile, families and packs of cavorting adults and fishermen wandered about eating cheese curds and brats, drinking a variety of libations, trying on enormous fur hats, and touring the fishhouses on display.
This year, for the first time, a new fishing contest debuted, with a potential prize of $25,000. During the week of Feb. 11, contest officials tagged and released one rainbow trout into Leech Lake. Had any lucky angler happened to pull up that fish and bring it in during the hours the scales were open, they would have been paid $25,000 in cash. However, this fish was not caught. So if you happen to be out fishing on Leech and you hook rainbow trout with an Eelpout Festival tag, now you'll understand.
Official Eelpout Festival rules state that all fish entered into the contest must come from Leech Lake, and all anglers must be prepared to submit fish samples for DNA testing; a lie-detector test will be performed on the eelpout; and if the eelpout fails the test, one will be administered to the angler. Eelpout officials apparently have a sense of humor about the whole thing. And that is the point. Eelpout Festival manages to provide serious fun and fishing events for the whole family, all while not taking itself too seriously.
'Pout Festival 2009 will take place on February 20-22. (The Eelpout Festival has been scheduled on Leech Lake through 2020.) From all your friends in the Leech Lake area and Trappers Landing Lodge, we welcome you to come enjoy the world's biggest party on ice for many years to come.  Labels: Eelpout, Leech Lake, Trappers Landing Lodge, Walker
posted by Leech Lake Blog
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